SOUTH AFRICANS’ PATIENCE IS RUNNING OUT
THE booing and jeering of President Cyril Ramaphosa at Cosatu’s main May Day rally in Rustenburg is a clear message to the ruling elites that people are tired of empty rhetoric.
Angry workers turned against Ramaphosa, and prevented him from addressing the Workers’ Day rally on Sunday. Shouting “he must go”, they charged at the president, forcing him to abandon the rally and flee in a police nyala.
While we condemn violence and physical threats against all citizens, especially the president, what transpired at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium was a culmination of political, labour and service delivery tensions that have been simmering for almost five years. Most of the issues that made the disaffected hot under the collar have largely remained unsolved.
They include job losses, unemployment, immigration, power cuts, water shortages, tender corruption, the privatisation of SOEs, land redistribution, and so forth.
Since taking over as the country’s president in 2018, Ramaphosa seemingly made it his mission to feign ignorance of burning service delivery issues in the country, including load shedding and water shortages.
On his watch, South Africa reached unprecedented levels of unemployment, job losses and inequality. The rich get richer while the poor become poorer. The current labour dispute between Sibanye-Stillwater and unions Numsa and Amcu should have been attended to a while ago.
Yes, Sibanye is a private company. But captains of industry regularly boast about their support for, and relationship with, Ramaphosa. Given that relationship, the president is in a position to influence mine bosses to attend to the concerns of the workers. For Ramaphosa to insist on going to Rustenburg, given his alleged role in the Marikana massacre, also highlighted the arrogance of power.
The president would do well to acknowledge poor service delivery, implement tangible steps to address the issue, and take action against corruption without fear or favour. He should not blur the line between the ANC’s and the country’s interests.
Most importantly, the president should address our socio-economic situation meaningfully. Rhetorical sloganeering has its limit, as developments in Rustenburg showed.